After
the Opium War (1840-42) Britain and other Western powers forced China
to legalize the opium trade; menacing British warships lined China’s
shores as officials were forced to sign a series of one-sided
agreements. China rightly calls this an era of “gunboat diplomacy.”

On
April 28, 2014, thousands of Protestant Christians watched as local
authorities dispatched bulldozers to demolish their massive new church.
The Sanjiang church, in Wenzhou, was destroyed
after several weeks of staged protests; the pastor reportedly said,
“Pray for the Christians in China. The Communist Party sometimes begins
with a small act, like tearing down one church, and it becomes a trend
that could spread throughout China.”

The Party is known for
sending bulldozers to demolish Christian churches that it claims are
“unregistered” or “unruly.” After twelve years of construction, the
Sanjiang church was razed in a single day.

This “bulldozer diplomacy” has grown into an unofficial policy of China’s increasingly hardline Party. A recent article in The Telegraph, entitled “China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years”,
features an image of Beijing’s famous North Church, packed with
Catholic Christians attending Holy Mass (April 29, 2014). It quotes
Purdue professor, Yang Fenggang: “By my calculations China is destined
to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon.” When I
met Professor Yang recently in Chicago, he noted his belief that China’s
number of Christians will likely grow to around 160 million by 2030,
making it the “world’s most Christian nation.”

Needless to say,
this is an alarming possibility to China’s Communist authorities, who
fear that Christianity is eroding Marxist ideology. In an official
report identified as the “Blue Book,” Beijing has listed religion as one of the “four greatest challenges to national security.”

The tone
of this report is alarming: “Hostile western forces are infiltrating
China’s religions in a more diverse way and in a wider range; deploying
more subtle means either openly or secretly; and are strongly seditious
and deceptive in nature.” It continues, asserting that, “Foreign
religious infiltration powers have penetrated all areas of the Chinese
society.” The Maoist era rhetoric that identified Christianity as a tool
for foreign imperialism has resurfaced, and China’s Christians are
again watchful for policies that might affect their freedom to practice
their faith.

The West’s “gunboat diplomacy” of the
mid-nineteenth century is being replaced by China’s “bulldozer
diplomacy” of the present. The former leader of China’s State
Administration for Religious Affairs said in a 2001 speech at Hong
Kong’s Chung Chi College, that “there is no conflict between our respect
for freedom of religious belief and our advocacy of dialectical
materialism.” He affirmed the Party’s “respect for freedom of religious
belief.” This apparent respect, however, assumes the ultimate
“dialectical victory” of Marxist Communism over religious belief. This
victory, it appears, is not coming fast enough; Christianity is quickly
gaining numbers while Marxism seems to be buckling under the popularity
of Western materialism.While Wenzhou’s majestic Sanjiang church
was being bulldozed, Shanghai’s Catholic bishop remains under house
arrest for refusing affiliation with the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association, and new bishops are elected without papal involvement. The
situation for Catholics remains complex. But as ever, I write what might
seem like distressing news after hearing equally hopeful news from
China. This morning, I looked at a poignant and powerful photo recently
taken of a priest friend; he is leaning forward above a kneeling
Catholic woman, placing his hands on her head to impart his blessing.
Sunlight shines through the beautiful church window behind them, and the
elderly woman is smiling, apparently radiant with the grace and peace
that only Christ can provide.

About the Author

Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.

Anthony E. Clark is an associate professor of Chinese history at Whitworth University and the author of China’s Saints: Catholic Martyrdom During the Qing, 1644-1911. He is also the host of the EWTN television series The Saints of China: Martyrs of the Middle Kingdom.

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